In the Cathedral of Holy Name, the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Chicago, about 200 worshipers packed the banks at the Mass of the 8 am, much more than usual for a early morning on Friday.
“Thank you for the gift of the new Pope Leo XIV,” said Bishop Lawrence Sullivan after delivering communion to dozens of attendees.
And when the organ of the organ filled the sanctuary, sister Maryjane Okolie, based on the southern side, was radiant of pride.
“God has chosen the right person,” Okolie said.
But Okolie said he did not expect the cardinals to choose a southsider.
“I was surprised,” said the sister. “And then hear that he is from Chicago, South Side, Oh, my God. God is great!”
Chicago is home to a large Latin community, including Peruvian Americans, and they also glad to have someone in the Vatican who is very familiar with their region and culture.
Leo’s mother, Mildred Martinez Prevost, was from the Spanish inheritance, and the new Pontiff spent two decades in Peru, where he was the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo and later the bishop of Chiclayo, even becoming a naturalized citizen of the country of South America.
“As a Latin American who lives here in Chicago, I feel very proud that the Pope is from Chicago and that he has dedicated a large part of his life serving the Latin American community,” a woman told Telemundo.
“Being from Chicago and also Latin American, he knows about the suffering of people. It makes me happy we have things in common,” said a man.
Another Peruvian man told Telemundo that the Pope spent “about 10 years in the city where I am, Chiclayo in Peru.”
“I have a family that received his confirmation from him,” he said, referring to the Catholic sacrament.
In Rome, Cardinal Blase Cupich, head of the Chicago Archdiocese, told Lester Holt of NBC News that they really chose the right man for work.
“Well, he is an individual who is very real,” said Cupich. “What you see is what you get. It is authentic. He cares about people. He wants to do the right thing. He is not afraid to make a decision, and it has been said that he does not fight, but he will not flee from him either.”
It was not just Chicago. The president of the University of Villanova in Pennsylvania, of which the Pontiff graduated in 1977 with a title in mathematics, said he sent an email to Leo not long after being revealed as the new Pope.
“I wrote yesterday congratulating him, and jokingly said:” Maybe I can get you for the starter speaker next year, “the Reverend Peter Donohue told Ana Cabrera de MSNBC on Friday.” And he replied and said: ‘Thank you, Peter. I appreciate it, but I will probably be busy. ‘”
